Adejoke Adebiyi
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has denied claims of endorsing former Abia governor, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, as its favored candidate for the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly.
A member of the forum, Alhaji Musa Saidu stayed this in a statement on Monday, Abuja, while responding to assertions made by Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the leader of the Arewa Youth Conservative Forum (AYCF), who claimed that the ACF had given its endorsement to Kalu for the position.
Saidu clarified the situation, saying, “I want to say without fear of contradiction, that the ACF has no youth wing and there was no time that we sat to make Shettima the AYCF leader. The whole thing is false.
“The ACF has not endorsed Kalu as the next Senate President, because we have our own ways of doing things.
“It is shocking to hear Shettima asking Sen. Abdulaziz Yari to step down for Kalu in the race for Senate Presidency,” he said.
Saidu criticized Shettima for urging Sen. Abdulaziz Yari to step down in favour of Kalu in the race for the Senate Presidency.
Saidu, who also serves as the leader of the Arewa Community in Southern Nigeria, stated that the ACF would have preferred the position to be zoned to the North due to its significant contribution to President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election.
“The North contributed the highest votes for Tinubu in the presidential election, so we can’t just endorse candidates from other zones for the Senate Presidency.
“How can we work for Tinubu to become president and then turn around to start campaigning for other zones to become Senate President.
“In fact the Vice-President slot given to the North is just like a spare tyre, everybody in Nigeria knows that the position has no much value.
“Since the North West gave Tinubu the highest votes, then it should be given the Senate Presidency, the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is too small for the zone,” he said.
Saidu added: ”It is a payback time for the North, so it should be given the Senate Presidency of the 10th National Assembly.
“For fairness and justice, the North should be considered for the Senate Presidency and Sen. Abdulaziz Yari should be endorsed for the position.”
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